AMA Women & Motorcycling Conference | Day 2

It turns out my lucky $10 won us a perfect riding day. The desert heat sapped our drive before we even mounted the bikes in the morning, but as soon as we hit the Utah border everything changed. As we traversed the scenic rollercoaster of mountain ranges, the landscape morphed from barren desert to multi-colored rock walls and the temperature fluctuated but never enough for us to don or shed extra layers. No need for the electric vest or rain suit.

Utah has earned a reputation for skiing and religion, but come summer, it is an artist’s pallet of colors and scenes, you never know what you’re going to be blown away with around the next turn. Today was another low mileage day, so we took our time along the way until we finally rolled into our hotel at dusk. The magnificence of the high desert, red rocks, lava formations, alpine forests, skyscraping canyon walls and sandstone formations was well worth the savoring.

I have a confession to make. I have a budding crush on the Tuono. That’s right a crush on a motorcycle. I’m new to the naked bike thing and at first I was hesitant to give up the wind protection of a fully faired bike for such a long trip, but with the mini fairing, wide bars and steering dampener, the bike feels great. Besides, I’m too distracted by the awesomeness of the thundering v-twin motor to notice any wind. The Aprilia is a confidence-inspiring ride whether it’s dueling trucks on the highway, navigating tight canyon twisties, or just posing around town.